DreamsPart 2
by KathW
Summary: This is the second part of a Luby I began a few days ago. Enjoy...


One could still find a cozy coffeehouse, or Mom and Pop bookstore in downtown Evanston, but the once quaint college town had largely been taken over by the likes of Borders and Starbucks. Abby liked the fact their house was close enough to downtown to walk. No spending time searching for parking, or getting Sophie in and out of her chariest.  
Neela was already waiting for them. She bent down, and kissed Sophie, asking about her Godchild.  
That had been a bone of contention between Luka and Abby. She insisted only Neela could be Sophie's Godmother. He insisted that the child's Godparents needed to be Catholic. Abby refused to be swayed by anything as insignificant as the Catholic church. Neela was Sophie's Godmother, and she would have it no other way.  
Abby ordered raspberry tea for herself, and hot chocolate for Sophie. Neela had ordered a huge chocolate chip cookie for the three of them to share.  
"Great. That's all she needs is something that makes her more hyper," Abby said.  
It wasn't until they were sitting down, Neela had taken off her gloves that Abby noticed the engagement ring on her finger.  
"From Ray? Neela, why didn't you tell me"  
"We were waiting until Thanksgiving to tell everyone, but I couldn't wait"  
"Congratulations! He's a good guy, Neela. And he's grown up a lot. Thanks to you"  
"He's a scoundrel. But he has a heart of gold. And life with Ray is certainly never dull"  
After her ill-fated marriage to Michael Gallant, Abby had thought Neela's hear was permanently closed off. Yet here she was, engaged to Ray Barnett.  
"Can I be in the wedding?" Sophie asked.  
"Sophie! That was so rude of you to ask!" Abby said.  
"It's fine. We'd love for her to be the flower girl." Neela said happily.  
"At least this time, you can actually plan a wedding." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Abby regretted saying them.  
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that"  
:It's okay. Abby, are you alllright? You look exhausted"  
"I didn't sleep. Sophie had one of her bad dreams again last night"  
Sophie had seen a little girl she knew from the playground, and Abby took the opportunity to let her daughter go over to her, and say hello.  
"Sophie, why don't you go over and sit with Madison, and her mom for a minute. I need to talk to Aunt Neela, okay"  
Once Sophie was out of earshot, She told Neela what she'd been wanting to tell someone.  
"Neela, I think I might be pregnant again. I went off the pill six weeks ago. And now I'm late"  
"Oh God. And you've told your husband this, or not"  
"Here's the thing. He doesn't know I've stopped taking the pill. I was afraid he'd try to talk me out of having another baby.  
Neela eyed her critically. "Why in blazes would you want to? You're fourty-one. You already had one difficult birth"  
"I know. And I know it's time for me to go back to work full-time. It's been over a year. I don't want Sophie being raised by nannies, and baby-sitters. But I also don't want her growing up lonely"  
Neela looked over at Sophie, currently running around with another child whom she barely knew.  
"I don't think I've seen a happier, better-adjusted child"  
"She has her moods. Sometimes, she goes off in the corner, and looks at her picture-books, or plays with her Barbies all by herself. It's like she prefers not to bother with anyone"  
Neela shrugged. "It's her personality. She takes after her dad"  
"Maybe. So what do you think I should do"  
"Abby, it's so obvious. Tell Luka. I would think in forty-plus years of living you have learned you don't lie to your man"  
"It isn't lying exactly. More like withholding the truth"  
"Ray and I will come over on Saturday to take Sophie to the movies. That way you two will have an entire afternoon to be alone"  
"Thanks Neela. Sophie come over here, and finish your hot chocolate." 

She stopped at the Whole Foods store on the way home to pick up a veggie lasagna for dinner for herself.  
"Mommy, I don't like anything in this store!" Sophie protested.  
"Fine, We'll stop somewhere else, and get you chicken nuggets, and fries, okay"  
Luka was sound asleep on the couch when they got home.  
"Daddy!" Sophie said as she jumped on him.  
"There's my girl! Did you have a good day"  
"We saw Aunt Neela, and her and Ray are getting married. And I'm goona be the flower girl. And then Madison's mommy asked if I could come to her house for a playdate on Saturday"  
"I guess you're up to date on everything. Sophie, I'm sorry but you'll have to go to Madison's house another time. Ray and Neela are taking you to see the new Harry Potter movie on Saturday"  
"Don't you think she's a little too young for that?" Luka asked.  
"She's been begging for weeks. I told Neela the minute she gets scared, to just leave the theater"  
"Daddy, can you play in the snow with me?" Sophie asked.  
"Sure, Sweetheart"  
He shared a bond with their daughter Abby didn't think he'd ever have with her. He was teaching Sophie Croatian, and she seemed better at picking up the language than Abby herself. If anything ever happened to Sophie, she wasn't sure if he'd be able to go on.

She'd been born on July 4th, three weeks ahead of schedule.  
Ray, Neela, Morris, and a few others decided to play softball in Grant Park,  
and then watch the fireworks. Being eight months pregnant, not to mention tired and cranky, she should have just said no. But Luka insisted he wanted to go, and was afraid of leaving her home alone in her advanced state of pregnancy.  
As soon as they go out of the car, she regretted letting him talk her into this. There was the sweltering heat, and the mad crush crush of humanity. Not to mention the fact that Sam and Alex were there.  
At one point, Abby was tempted to grab his car keys, and drive home. He was so busy drinking beer with Sam and her demonic chid, he'd probably barely notice she was gone.  
Instead, she choose the stony silent treatment, barely speaking to him on the way home.  
"Abby, what is wrong with you"  
"Nothing. Maybe I just can't stand to you flirting with your ex-girlfriend. I know I'm fat, and ugly, and no fun to be around. But that's no excuse"  
"You're being ridiculous, and I'm not going to justify any of that with a response"  
When they got home, she went to sleep on the couch, and that's when the contractions started.  
She ended with an emergency C-section, and a beautiful baby girl. From that day on, they vowed that no matter what issues they had with one another, they needed to work them out. For Sophie.  
It had been too hard to bear sometimes, trying to finish her residency with Sophie upstairs in day care. They tried to balance their respective shifts to cover child care, but that didn't always happen. Kerry was as understanding as she could be, but Abby didn't want to take advantage of their friendship.  
She'd done another internship in OB when she finished her ER residency. It made sense. The hours were saner, and she'd be able to spend more time with Sophie.  
For the past year she'd been working part-time at the Roger's Park Women's clinic. Sophie had pre-school two days a week, so it worked out. Janet Coburn called her about once a week, asking her to join her practice. Abby had been considering it, but with another baby? She just didn't know. She wasn't about to become the poster child for Woman Who Has it All!

She never got a chance to talk to Luka on Saturday. They spent the day watching DVDs, and promptly fell asleep. That was what married people did when they had time alone together, she supposed.  
She was going to tell him when they were in bed together that night, but Sophie had another bad dream, and ended up sleeping between them. She blamed herself. She was a bad mother, and a horrible person for letting Sophie see that movie.  
"Sweetie, I love you dearly. But this has got to stop. You're going to have to tough it out when you have a bad dream, and sleep in your own bed"  
"I'm afraid of the monsters," her daughter said.  
Abby sat up, and turned on the light. "You know what? You're never seeing another Harry Potter movie ever again. There are no monsters, Honey. You're here with Mommy and Daddy, and you're safe"  
But the monsters did exist. Try as she might, Abby never seemed to be able to conquer the demons inside her own head.


End file.
